Pussy Riot to be Freed

Russian president Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that 30 environmental activists, including the two jailed members of punk band Pussy Riot, will be freed.

"I feel sorry for Pussy Riot not for the fact that they were jailed, but for disgraceful behavior that has degraded the image of women,” Putin said in a televised news conference.

The two band members—Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina, 24 and 25—were in the midst of a two-year sentence for a “punk prayer” in Moscow’s central cathedral. They were arrested in March of 2012, and set for a March 2014 release.

Putin also touched on the topic of Edward Snowden during the televised interview, calling him “noble,” but claiming to never have met or worked with hm. “Thanks to Mr. Snowden, a lot has changed in the minds of people around the world,” Putin said. “We don’t help him — we just gave him temporary asylum.”